The 3 community gardens quietly transforming lives

What do community gardens mean to the people who tend and visit them? Deana Luchia visits three of the finest in the area...

It doesn’t take long to see that community gardens are about so much more than simply growing fruit and veg. Walking in these lovely, productive places, watching volunteers get stuck in, I soon realise that they are also about learning new skills, making friends, getting in a workout (who needs the gym when you have soil, seeds and a spade?) and feeling useful.

There’s also a wonderful sense of inclusivity at play. Whether you’re a keen gardener who wants to share your skills or a complete novice who has never had a garden of your own, someone who looks forward to a friendly chat whilst sowing seeds or the type who cherishes working alone, these gorgeous gardens are for you. Come and see...

Community Gardens Farncombe

Farncombe Community Garden

I’m shown around this pretty 2.5-acre garden by Tessa Woodley-Rudge, one of around 30 volunteers who come here to dig, weed, plant and prune.

As I’m admiring the beds of flowers (the garden is designed for year-round colour), several other volunteers arrive, two of them on mobility scooters – most of the garden is wheelchair-friendly. Some head off by themselves; others work side by side.

There’s a cutting garden for people to take home flowers, a wild pond for pond dipping, fruit trees, a sensory garden and large vegetable beds.

Community Gardens Farncombe

“The volunteers can take the veg home, or else we give it away,” explains Tessa as we look at tomatoes growing in a polytunnel.

“Sometimes we take produce to the local foodbank. We grow anything that volunteers want: kale, carrots, herbs, peppers, squash, cabbage, potatoes and peas.”

Once an unused field belonging to Broadwater School, the site near Godalming has been slowly transformed into the oasis it is today by volunteers and visitors.

“It was covered in brambles,” says Tessa. “The grass was very tussocky, and there were thistles, ragwort and loads of brambles.”

Biodiversity is key.

Community Gardens Farncombe

“When we clear an area, we keep something to bring back nature: plants to attract butterflies, rotting wood to get snakes and beetles, especially stag beetles.”

It’s very much a space for everyone: local charities, Rainbows (Girl Guides), Beavers and Cubs (Scouts) and schools all bring groups here. The adjacent care home has its own private entrance so that residents can enjoy the garden even when it isn’t open. Once a month, there are yoga sessions (outside in summer, inside the cabin when it’s cold).

“A garden like this brings a community together,” says Tessa. “It’s calm and serene; you can make friends and achieve something.”

For more information visit: farncombecommunitygarden.org

Community Gardens Cobham

Cobham Community Garden

“We need more volunteers,” says Sylvia Williams, one of the directors of this garden tucked away in a corner of the town’s Leg O’Mutton Field. Set up 10 years ago as part of an environmental initiative to encourage people to grow and consume fruit and vegetables without the use of pesticides, and employing permaculture techniques, the garden has a lot going on.

There’s a greenhouse for seedlings, seven vegetable beds (growing potatoes, kale, spinach, cabbage) and rows of soft fruit, including blackcurrants and blackberries, which have spread over from the adjacent allotments. There are also 40 fruit trees (some given, others bought through crowdfunding) and a flower border.

“We have sunflowers, dahlias, herbaceous plants and, in spring, daffodils and hyacinths, but the focus is on vegetables,” says Sylvia. “Flowers would get more of a look-in if there were more volunteers.”

Community Gardens Cobham

Such volunteers as there are can take what they’ve grown home with them, while excess produce is sold at farmers' markets and on Cobham Village Day. The proceeds are ploughed back into the garden.

“People buy from us as they know we don’t use pesticides,” says Sylvia.

Produce aside, what do volunteers get out of it?

“Camaraderie and feeling part of something. We’re very friendly. The core volunteers really look out for each other.”

Local vulnerable or socially isolated people are also encouraged to spend time in the garden.

Community Gardens Cobham

“We have school visits too,” says Sylvia. “Depending on the children’s age, we might sow seeds in a special school bed or do a bug hunt. Sometimes nurseries come. We have a selection of little watering cans and wheelbarrows for them to use.”

The garden also has Duke of Edinburgh Award students working as part of their community service.

“Often they’re very shy and know nothing about gardening, but by the time they leave, they’ve picked up some horticultural skills.”

For more information visit: cobhamcommunitygarden.org.uk

Community Gardens Vine

Vine Road Community Growing Project, Barnes

It’s a gorgeous, blue-skied day when I visit this busy garden on Barnes Common. Depending on the season, it produces an assortment of vegetables including tomatoes, salad leaves, cucumber, peppers, chillies, aubergines and herbs.

Today, there are the last of the tomatoes, some oca (a lemony-flavoured root vegetable), sprouting broccoli and some fabulously-hued rainbow chard, all of which make me hungry.

“We decide as a team what to grow,” explains Nicky Buley, the Community Growing Project Co-Ordinator. “We harvest once a week for the foodbank in Castelnau – that’s where most of our produce goes. But anyone who participates in our group sessions takes something home.”

Community Gardens Vine

Whilst there are three open sessions per week, when volunteers can turn up and do whatever jobs need doing, much of the Project’s work is with local charities, including MIND and Age UK Richmond.

Last year [2025], the Project secured the Richmond Borough Community Hero Award, given to people and organisations that have contributed to improving their local community.

“We have one group that brings people with complex autism,” says Nicky. “Recent groups have planted onion sets and made lavender bags. MIND brings regular volunteers to mulch, plant and prune.”

There are also Duke of Edinburgh Award students who tend to the garden as part of their community service, and children from primary schools, after-school clubs and nurseries who get the chance to sow seeds and admire the wormery.